Perhaps it's just because of my life experiences, but this song brought tears to my eyes. If I tried to write my own parody songs, I'd strive to be this good. brentalfloss, you are an inspiration and are wonderful at your craft. The Randy Newman comments seem valid; I enjoyed the light layering of instruments, especially the rotary organ. The vocal flourishes were a nice touch, and the lyrics made Mario seem like he was full of integrity and hope, constantly marching on despite not having an assured goal. Beautiful! EDIT: I realized that I was not listening to the version posted on OCRemix - I was listening to it on Spotify. The Spotify version (from the album Bits of Me) does not have the sound quality issues mentioned in the initial review of this mix. So definitely listen to the album version - and buy it (like I will!) if you like it. Is there a reason the OCRemix version is different?

I've always wanted to hear this game remixed, and I can certainly say that this remix hits the mark in a big way. The song itself I always found sort of epic, and the jazz arrangement touches on the epicness. The drums in particular are excellently interpreted to accent the relatively true-to-the-source melody lines. I like the different tone of the song once the claps punctuate it at around 2:11. Like many others, I'm not a big fan of the fadeout, but that's far from making me dislike this mix. Excellent work.

Excellent mix - very good ballad feel to it. The song sounds so full of lament in the middle .. it sounds like the performers are in emotional pain while playing it, and it rocks! I'm just wondering if anyone else heard echoes of Guile's stage from Street Fighter in this song. At about 1:32, I heard a phrase that sounded very much like it could have been from a Guile remix. Can you imagine Mega Man in Street Fighter? Not the Capcom remix stuff ... I'm talking old 8-bit mega man vs 16 bit Guile. Sonic boom vs. pea shooter. But I digress. Anyway, bravo on the great remix! Very "moody" - in a good way.

I ordered an XL shirt (which is still Pending on ztnetstore.com), but that was only because the L that I wanted was unavailable. I would much rather have a Large shirt, so that's my vote. Should I cancel my ZTnetStore order? I'm proud to support my ocremix.org! Perhaps one day I will have time to make a submission and be shot down by the judges!

I enjoyed this song - very simple, very "human." It reminded me of some of the David Schwartz songs used in the TV show Arrested Development. The song might have benefited from a little more layering, and I would have loved to hear a "battle" of sorts between either two lead plucking guitars or perhaps the existing guitar with another instrument (a clarinet, perhaps). Nonetheless, it is a good, fun song. Me like.

Ah, Ryu Stage - done to death, but always interesting. Here are my feelings on this ReMix. 0:00 - 0:42 Very pretty, but too much pedal. Each measure runs into the other. 0:42 Oooh! Life! 0:51 - 0:58 Whoa! Soul! I can finally see Ryu's inner turmoil beneath his cool and always calm exterior. The chaos ends with a deep breath at 0:58 and .. 0:59 - 1:44 The heart and soul of Ryu's theme. This is the part I can almost sing along to - and am glad for that. The section seems to evoke an image of ryu's standing stance, bouncing in time to the music, then jumping (1:00), punching (triplet fierce at 1:02), blocking (1:05), kicking (1:09) .. each change in background noise perfectly complements the theme. And Ryu's energy has never been higher. 1:45 - 2:00 Ryu's just landed a few punches now and is circling his opponent, sizing him up, and scaring the crap out of him at what he's going to do next. Ryu moves in ... 2:01 A SHO-RYU-KEN connects. Just a small one, because Ryu's not showing off. 2:01 - 2:09 As the dragon punch hits, the opponent falls to the ground in slow motion, complete with death wail. Excellent emotion on the piano for this section while keeping Ryu's theme triumphant. 2:09 - 2:40 Ryu looks once at his fallen opponent, then without a word walks away. "The fight is everything," and now that it's over, Ryu has nothing left but contemplation. The pedal problem returns during this section, but sounds a little better except around 2:37. 2:40 - 3:23 Ryu, somehow sensing a fight brewing on the other side of town, leaps into action to get there. With blinding speed, he runs through the town, stopping at nothing until he arrives. The song closes with him standing in an open doorway with his cross-armed winning pose, headband flapping in the breeze, and a steely close-up on his focused eyes. Also for humor - 3:11, he runs over Mario on his way through the town. Can't you hear the little coins he knocks out of Mario's pocket? That's what I heard, anyway! All in all, it is a very good, high energy arrangement. I felt the pedal during the slow parts was overused, but the faster parts made up for that. Also, the multitude of pianos, while full-sounding, did kind of muddle the sound together. It took a few listens in order to hear all the different parts. Excellent volume dynamics among all four parts, and good expansion on the theme. Thanks, Reuben!

Very minimal piece. No bells, no whistles, no strings, no in-game samples. No kidding. This arrangement is beautiful, relaxing, and emotional; it's just what Link needs after a hard day saving the world. I love the expression in varied velocity - I read that the original version of this piece didn't have touch sensitivity, and I cannot bear to imagine this piece without it. The extra high note at 3:08 is out of tune, just like many real pianos at that octave . From 2:56 on, it seems to be like Link is readying himself for rest, but is fighting sleep, and at 3:08 he just slumps over, respectfully, from exhaustion. After all, he just saved the world. Again. And a person watching just goes "aww..." as the rest of the piece is Link gingerly falling asleep clutching his pillow tight, getting his well deserved rest. (everybody with me now) "Aww..." A real piano would have been helpful for expressing the ending just a little bit better, as the piano sample loops the high note without decaying it (see 3:31 - 3:37). But all in all I like this remix a lot. Bravo, BogusRed - I admire both your musical arrangement and your performance talent.

Hey, does this sound out of tune? (waits for chair to be thrown) Seriously though - I had some issues with this piece. I enjoyed the simplicity and REALness of it. There is definitely something about a live performance (metronome included) that is captivating. The tuning, whether intentional or not, was a bad taste in my mouth. It sounded okay until the part at 0:52. As haunting as the dissonance (or rather, tonal inconsistency?) was, it certainly did remind me of cringing at a grade-school violin recital. In my opinion, the violin (when played well) is an expressive enough instrument that renders "scary tuning" unnecessary. With that said, although 0:52 sticks in my mind like a thorn ... it seems to be a thorn that I can't remove. I can't decide whether I want to run away and hide or relieve my soul of all hope in despair at the emotions it evokes. I think with proper tuning, I would have had a much more touching experience. It makes the difference between a scratch on the face and a caress on the cheek. I enjoyed the expression and panning of the instruments. A slight turn at 1:27 caught me off guard, but was interesting. At 2:02, the violins sounded good together. The cello was exceptionally well placed with the guitar at 2:19. 3:11 seemed unusually bright to me (in comparison with 2:02), and at 3:29 there was an unnatural silencing of the instruments that made it seems as though that part of the song was cut-and-pasted. As for the ending... the harsh mis-tuned string at 3:39 really grated at me ... but at 3:47, I was impressed by two decent sounding delayed violins, and a magnificent unresolved measure, gracefully slowing to a stop. So do I like this remix? I'm not sure. But I can't bring myself to delete it, and I'll give it a listen every once in a while... I'd like to listen to more of Select Start's material to see if it's less ghastly, whether it's inappropriate ghastliness or not.

Great way to capture the spirit of warfare. Drums reminded me slightly of goat's NoFleshAllowed mix of Castlevania 2, but that's just his style, I guess. Excellent job revamping the 8-bit triangle bass to crunch guitars! Another quality goat mix.

Is anyone else reminded of the opening theme of Rurouni Kenshin (played at hyper-speed) when they listen to this mix (specifically around 0:29)? A little bit of a surprise ending on this one. I kinda didn't expect it to be over when it did - I had to check to make sure my WinAmp didn't crash. Fun and energetic. A little repetitive, but amusing.

Does anyone else have this as the Super Mario Bros 1_1 Hampton OC ReMix? Can anyone say when or why the name changed? I found this mix simple but enjoyable. It's a good mix to roll your head around while thumping out a solid beat.